Andrea Jenkyns: A simple lesson in hand hygiene that will save lives

The campaign aims to promote good hand hygiene, first among primary school pupils and later moving in to local care settings and hospitals. I’m hoping my fellow MPs will promote the message across the country.

I’m delighted to be supported by the SNP Health Spokesperson Dr Philippa Whitford MP, and Labour MP Emma Reynolds, who are both fellow members of the Health Select Committee. This isn’t about party politics; it’s about getting the message out and protecting people.

I’ve had some people come up to me and ask why I’ve chosen to campaign on the issue of hand hygiene. The last Labour government ran a large awareness campaign, and campaigns have been run very successfully in Scotland and around the UK. Many people regard the issue of hand washing as dealt with, something that people already do and don’t need to hear any more about.

I have personal experience of loss as a cause of poor hygiene in a hospital. In 2011, I lost my Dad, Clifford, to the hospital superbug MRSA. He had contracted the infection during a simple procedure to drain fluid from his lungs, which was conducted in a dirty, unsuitable room where they stored the mops.

What I saw when he was being cared for truly shocked me. I observed endemic ignorance of proper hand hygiene procedure. On one particularly startling occasion, a nurse came into Dad’s room to administer an antibiotic cream up his nose. Without washing her own hands, she put the cream on her finger, put it up Dad’s nose, and moved straight on to the next patient.

Over that weekend, five people in the hospital also caught MRSA. Despite this, and throughout Dad’s time in hospital being treated, I continued to observe shocking breaches of proper hand hygiene.

I knew this wasn’t right, and Dad and I resolved ourselves that, as soon as he was better, we’d work together to do something about the problem.

I tried to challenge the nurses, but they wouldn’t hear my concerns. Shortly after Dad passed away, I began working with the fantastic MRSA Action UK, and I continue to be their Yorkshire representative. Through them, I learned of the sheer scale of the problem of hospital-acquired infections, though the numbers are mercifully falling.

But there is more to hand hygiene than just avoiding the spread of hospital superbugs. Basic hand hygiene is still not being observed by many people; one study has shown that 28 per cent of commuters have faecal bacteria on their hands. And it’s this sort of thing that puts us at risk of the spread of preventable infections.

So, why is this campaign particularly relevant now? You may have heard recently in the press talk of anti-microbial resistance (AMR). AMR is when bacteria become resistant to our current crop of antibiotics, and has some incredibly worrying potential global implications.

Preventing the spread of infection so we use fewer antibiotics is a major contributor to fighting the problem, and preventing the spread of infection is one of the key benefits of good hand hygiene.

I’m delighted that the campaign has the support of Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales. Dame Sally has been working with the Prime Minister to ensure resistance to antibiotics is at the top of the global health agenda. Only last week in his statement following the horrific attacks in Paris, David Cameron mentioned the threat posed by antibiotics.

We must also look at the direct implications on the Health Service, especially as we head toward the usual winter pressures that come from infections such as flu. There are new and growing pressures on the NHS, and as these grow people must take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. Good hand hygiene is key to ensuring that you not only don’t pass on illnesses yourself, but also to ensuring you don’t catch illnesses from other people.

Following the launch, I hope as many MPs as possible will take the campaign into their own areas, and take the opportunity to go into their local primary schools and engage with the pupils on this issue. It is a simple and fun visit that will hopefully educate the children about the risks of poor hand hygiene, and a simple 30 second technique for good hand washing.

I have delivered these workshops myself, and they are both really good fun and very beneficial for the children.

This is an issue that is on the global agenda. Figures suggest that globally, 600,000 people die a year from poor hand hygiene. I’m proud to be campaigning for more rigorous hand hygiene at no cost to the taxpayer, and I hope I can count on the support of the public.

Andrea Jenkyns is the MP for Morley and Outwood and a Member of the Health Select Committee. She is also chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety and a trustee of MRSA Action UK.